


Petunia's Apprentice

by alicecrow6



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cycle of Abuse, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Petunia's still an ass, She just has a motive to be less of one, Slytherin Harry Potter, Slytherins Being Slytherins, Smart Harry Potter, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicecrow6/pseuds/alicecrow6
Summary: If there was one thing that almost everyone could say with certainty about Petunia Dursley, it was that she was smart. Not the traditional kind of intelligence involving math or science, but rather a more clever kind of smart. She was quick on the uptake and even quicker on the response. She always knew the thing to say to make people like her just as well as she knew the thing to say to make people fear her. Manipulation was her friend and lies were her minions. Every word that came out of her mouth was designed with clear intent and purpose.It was just unfortunate that for all her wisdom Petunia Dursley has no one to pass it on to. Now don’t get her wrong, she loved her darling son but even she knew a lost cause when she saw one. Her little Dudley just didn’t have the right kind of ruthless to him. He took too much after his father in that regard.No, she needed someone that knew hardship. Someone that saw what it took to survive and thrive. Someone that never broke despite all that opposed them. They needed to be the right sort of clever, the right sort of ruthless, the right sort of person. They needed to be like her.
Relationships: Daphne Greengrass & Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Harry Potter & Blaise Zabini, Petunia Evans Dursley & Harry Potter, Theodore Nott & Harry Potter
Comments: 31
Kudos: 165
Collections: literally amazing i could read these over and over





	1. Chapter 1

If there was one thing that almost everyone could say with certainty about Petunia Dursley, it was that she was smart. Not the traditional kind of intelligence involving math or science, but rather a more clever kind of smart. She was quick on the uptake and even quicker on the response. She always knew the thing to say to make people like her just as well as she knew the thing to say to make people fear her. Manipulation was her friend and lies were her minions. Every word that came out of her mouth was designed with clear intent and purpose. 

It was just unfortunate that for all her wisdom Petunia Dursley has no one to pass it on to. Now don’t get her wrong, she loved her darling son but even she knew a lost cause when she saw one. Her little Dudley just didn’t have the right kind of ruthless to him. He took too much after his father in that regard. 

No, she needed someone that knew hardship. Someone that saw what it took to survive and thrive. Someone that never broke despite all that opposed them. They needed to be the right sort of clever, the right sort of ruthless, the right sort of person. They needed to be like her.

It was a twisted form of fate that the only one fit the criteria was her nephew, Lily’s son, the freak. Of course, the only person that could even begin to understand what she would try to teach was the child of the one that made her learn it all in the first place. It was a type of irony that made her teeth itch and skin crawl. 

She had decided that she would simply wait until her little Dudleykins had children of his own. She just needed to be patient. 

And she was. She was patient for three long years till it all came to head. The boy had done something so clever that it made her face want to split in half from the force of the smirk that wanted to break free. She, of course, had more self-control than that but the point still stood.

“I’m sorry to say Mrs. Dursley, but if this keeps up then we’ll need to hold them back for a year,” the educator said apologetically. Petunia smiled, her eyes slightly condescending. It was at this point in time that she had a monumentally important decision to make. In one life she would simply ask for remedial classes for both of them and be done with it. Not sparing a thought to the little boy that would be horrible wronged. In this world, however, she took a moment longer to decide. A single moment longer where she was honest with herself for the first time in years. 

A deep breath, and the decision was made.

“Excuse me Ms....” she let the silence speak for itself.

“Bluefield,” the woman said primly, seeming to be horribly offended by the “disrespect” of someone not knowing her name.

“Yes, well Ms. Bluefield let me be frank with you. Dudley will be needing summer school no doubt about it. Even I as a mother can not deny the faults of my child. Your handle of Harry’s situation, however, leaves me befuddled on how you became an educator in the first place,” Petunia said with a polite smile. Ms. Bluefield's face grew red at the barely hidden insult. Hook.

“What do you mean” the woman gritted out. 

“I mean the fact that my nephew is a far sight smarter than most of the people in his class, you included apparently,” Petunia said snidely.

“Now listen here! I can understand a mother’s unclenching belief in their child but this is too far! For god’s sake, the boy has worse grades than your first child!”

“Ah, but I’m not the boy’s mother. No, I’m his aunt. The same aunt that not even a moment before had agreed with you on her very own son’s need for more schooling. You can be sure that I do not say this out of some sort of sentimentality but rather genuine knowledge. Harry Potter is an intelligent young boy that has somehow managed to trick a woman more than four times his age” Petunia held up a hand when the woman looked as though she was about to interrupt. 

“You may question how this could be seeing that the boy has never shown any particular sort of talent in the classroom. To that, I say look at his test scores. Harry has had a consistent 64 on each and every one of his assignments and tests for years. And I don’t just mean around 64, I mean exactly 64. I don’t need to tell you how impossible that is. In fact, I shouldn’t even be needing to tell you in the first place! Honestly, how disgraceful” Petunia shook her head mockingly. Line.

“I-“ the woman was speechless. So stuns that she hardly took any note of the slight.

“But why?” And sinker. Petunia didn’t dare let her smirk show, not when she was so close to the end result. Now to reel her in.

“Isn’t it obvious? For Dudley. See, Vernon's always been a bit strict on my little baby, if he saw Harry do better than Dudley then he’d get even more unpleasant about the whole ordeal! Harry must have known this and intentionally done worse to protect his cousin! Why, if I’d known sooner I would have told him not to waste his potential earlier. Such a sweet boy” she said “lovingly”. She also spared a moment to send a mental apology to Vernon for throwing him under the bus. It was true in a way, and by true she meant the exact opposite of the actual situation. She had suspected that Vernon had said something to the boy about not upstaging Dudley but she hadn't ever really cared before.

“This doesn’t change the fact that this is all just speculation,” Ms. Bluefield said uncertainty.

“Then how about this, we do a redo of his end of the year tests. If he passes like I know he will then he moves on to the next year without any more comment. If he fails then he takes the remedial classes with Dudley. Is this a good enough compromise?” Petunia asked pleasantly.

“I’ll need to ask the principal” her voice growing even more uncertain. 

“Why of course! I’d never even dream to suggest that you shouldn’t leave the final decision to your employer. You're just a simple educator after all. No one with any sort of real power over the situation” if Petunia’s smile was sharp enough to cut glass then that was no one’s business but her own.

Ms. Bluefield’s cheeks colored. Her hand trembled just a bit as she tightened them into fists.

“Of course. I’ll be in contact with you in a few days to give you your answer” her voice was strained and her smile even more so.

Petunia, on the other hand, had no problems with smiling widely. 

——————-

Petunia spent the next few days spreading the word out to all the fellow parents. She told them all of how her sweet little nephew had been oh so horribly wronged by unobservant teachers and how they might have even stunted his education in some ways. She needed to put some pressure on the school to get them to listen if Ms. Bluefield ended up a failure. No need to put all her eggs in one basket after all. She even had enough evidence to take the school to court for negligence should they refuse her. She wouldn’t win, but she would forever tarnish their reputation. It was all coming together rather nicely.

Vernon was still away on his business trip so she had plenty of time to come up with a way to take care of him should the need come up. In the meantime, she had spent the time at home fixing the relationship between herself and her nephew. At first with more food, then with less chores, and finally, moving him out of the cupboard. It always mystified her how they weren’t arrested for child abuse yet. She could wiggle her way out of it if course by saying that she feared for her life, once again throwing Vernon under the bus, but that didn’t mean that she wished for it to happen.

The temper tantrum that Dudley threw about the fact that the freak was getting his second bedroom tried at her patience but still, she held firm. She wouldn’t be bullied by a child, not even her own. It was time that he learned that she let him have what he wanted out of love, not any power that he had over her.

Threw this all the boy stayed silent, simply observing. He always looked confused but never said a word.

Petunia already had a list of things she wished to teach him. One of which was to think further ahead. His plan with the grades was incredibly smart short term, but rather stupid long term. She supposed that she shouldn’t be too harsh on the nine your old but still. What if she hadn’t spoken up? What then? Would he try to go on his whole life mediocre? He’d never amount to anything if he had continued on the way that he had! Never mind that the child would go to a completely different world when he was 11. The point still stood because Harry hadn't known that.

She stood at the door of Harry’s new room and knocked. Her palms were sweating and she felt highly foolish for standing awkwardly at the door but she needed to set up a point of contact. Now before it was too late and he grew too bitter to listen to her lessons.

The boy opened the door and stood silently before her. He was always so silent, so watchful. If she was a woman of weaker will she would have said that his stare made her uncomfortable. Fortunately, his nature was just the thing he would need to succeed in her eyes.

“Boy, come downstairs. We have much to discuss,” she said simply before turning around and walking to the living room. Dudley was at his friend’s house so he wouldn't accidentally overhear them. 

By the time the boy had entered the living room Petunia already had two cups of tea ready. She nodded at him to take one and then sat on the couch. He stood awkwardly with a teacup in hand before Petunia grew frustrated with him and barked at him to sit down. His wide-eyed look of cation made her immediately regret it. She needed to gain his trust, not further isolate him she repeated to herself.

“Harry, I'm sure you've noticed some changes to your treatment and living situation so I won't insult you by repeating what you already know. Instead, I will tell you why these changes have been made,” she paused for effect before continuing. 

“You see, you remind me much of myself at your age. I was a child constantly disregarded for the achievements of my younger sister. I was told at every opportunity that my sister’s needs and wants were more important than my own. Lovely little Lily that was always so pretty and smart. Lovely little Lily that was so much more popular and special. I know everything that you've ever felt because I’ve felt it too,” Petunia watched as the words sunk in. Watched as the boy’s eyes grew sympathetic. 

How strange. How very very strange. She knew the boy had it in him to be ruthless, to be indifferent, but it seemed that the boy was naturally kind. Kindness was a weakness, one she would need to root out.

“I see that you're like me. That you have the potential to be someone great. So here's what's going to happen, I’m going to teach you everything that I wish to. You're going to listen and learn. And, should a time come that I need your help, you will come to my aid,” the boy took a moment to think it through, an action Petunia thoroughly approved of, before nodding in agreement.

And so, an alliance was made, a mentorship forged, and a bond grew where none had existed before.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter wasn’t stupid, Boy was stupid, Freak was stupid, but Harry Potter was most definitely not. He knew that his aunt was trying to gain his trust, knew that she was simply using him for a larger purpose. Nonetheless, a small part of him wanted the attention that she showered him in. The part of him that hadn’t yet died from his family’s horrid actions. 

Still, no matter how much his heart wanted him to jump into his aunt’s open arms, his head knew better. He had been burned far too many times to allow himself to get close enough to be in that vulnerable ever again.

Harry Potter wasn't stupid, so while he knew that his aunt was trying to get closer to him, he allowed it. Allowed her to think that she had gotten what she wanted. Not because he loved her, but because now he had three meals a day and his own room. He had glasses that showed him a clearer world that he had not seen since he had been six. He had clothes that fit and fewer chores. Honestly speaking, it would be dumb to deny his aunt this, especially when such comforts came with the deal.

In return, all he had to do was do as she said and one day help her. He doubted there would ever be a time where Aunt Petunia would need help from him, but was nonetheless wary about that being a part of the deal. What could he have that Aunt Petunia might need? What did she know that he didn't?

She started to bring him with her at tea parties. She would tell him to observe and tell her what he had noticed afterward. The first time he had been unable to tell her anything of importance and had been locked into the cupboard again. He had been let out the next morning.

“I want you to look closer than just the surface. I don't want you to tell me that Mrs. Johnson has a horrible fashion sense, I have eyes, I know. I want you to tell me the nitty-gritty of it all. I want you to look at people and notice things about them in a single glance that most wouldn't notice in a single year. I want you to be able to look at Mrs. Johnson and notice that not only does she have a horrible fashion sense, but also she’s on the verge of financial instability,” Aunt Petunia said with hard eyes and a sip of her steaming tea. Her entire being seemed frigid but Harry only had eyes for her clenched fists. 

“How would I be able to know that?” Harry asked in genuine confusion. The things she wanted of him were impossible, undoable.

“You were focusing so much on the color scheme of her dress you didn't notice the kind of fabric it was made of. Of how she had gotten a little too quiet when we started talking about Mr. Johnson’s new raise. Especially for someone who likes to brag so much,” Aunt Petunia told him. He knew she would hear no excuses from him. That he had to learn, and quick too.

He couldn't go back to the cupboard. Not when he finally had everything he had ever wanted. Being shoved back into the damn thing had only cemented everything in his head. 

He spent the next couple of days observing his classmates as a type of practice but had only gotten mixed results.

Aunt Petunia took him to another tea party the next week and this time he tried to look a bit closer. 

He ended up giving her information that was incorrect and was then shoved back into the cupboard, this time for two days.

This would continue on for another month. Sometimes Harry would get something correct and he’d be able to go to bed in his room with a full stomach. Most of the time he’d be forced into his cupboard because he had gotten something incorrect. His empty stomach kept him up as he reevaluated the tea party of the week over and over again, looking desperately for something he had missed.

This, of course, wasn't helped by his cousin’s constant belittling. He felt like he was on a knife’s edge. Like he was one wrong move from losing it all. He couldn't bear it if he did though. Didn't know how he’d go back to living the way he had before now that he finally had a taste of what being cared felt like.

He spent hours of his day studying not only his classmates but his classwork as well. Aunt Petunia had told him that he needed to do well in school as well if he didn't want to disappoint her.

He didn't want to disappoint her, not when her disappointment came with being punished. Not when it came with being shoved back into his cupboard.

When he had gotten an A on his next test she had run her hand through his hair and told him she was proud. He had felt a sense of warmth open in his chest at the statement. Like it was all he needed to be happy.

Harry Potter wasn’t stupid, he knew that something was going on. But as his fear of punishment grew, so too did his desperation for approval.

Everything only seemed to grow stranger as time went on. When Dudley would hurt him he would be punished and Harry would be cared for.

She would bandage his bruises and cuts gently one day and shove him into the cupboard another day.

She kept bouncing from one extreme to another and it made Harry feel like he was getting whiplash. 

Despite all of this he couldn't help but hope at the start of every day that the aunt he would be dealing with would be the gentler one.

“Harry dear, it’s so nice to see you again! Look at how adorable you are, keeping your aunt company,” one of the older women said. Her name was Mrs. Dirny and Harry hated her. Everyone here was fake but she was somehow more so. The worst part of it was that she wasn't even subtle about it! Everyone knew she was a lying piece of shit yet she continued to do nothing to hide it!

“Hello Mrs. Dirny, I’ve heard your granddaughter is going to be married this summer. An artist that lives in London yes,” Harry asked pleasantly, Mrs. Dirny stiffened. It was no secret to anyone how much she despised the man her grandchild was going to marry. She never complained about it, for to do so would only be putting her own family down, but she was always a bit colder when he was brought up. Harry loved to bring him up. Especially since she had once sprayed window washer into his eyes when he had been younger.

“Ah, yes, his family lives out in Scotland so they needed to a time where everyone was free to hold the ceremony,” Mrs. Dirny said almost robotically.

“What was his name again? I always forget,” Harry asked, deliberately wanting to fuck with her.

“His name is Richard Noshal” her wrinkled lips tightened on his name.

“I don't think I’ve ever heard of him, what famous artworks did he create?” Harry asked innocently. Unfortunately, before he could get an answer, Aunt Petunia uninterrupted them and told them that the meeting was starting.

This week he decided to focus on Mrs. Luise. He kept a sharp eye on her and almost broke into a large smile when he noticed something that his Aunt was sure to be impressed by. 

The rest of the tea party went on in a slow haze as Harry desperately wished for it to end. By the time the meeting was over and he was in the Dursley’s living room again he felt like he could bounce out of his skin.

His Aunt sat down and gestured for him to do the same. Her face was blank and Harry knew that the information he gave her would decide which aunt he would be dealing with.

“Mrs. Luise’s marriage is failing” Harry finally burst out after he couldn't keep it in any longer. Aunt Petunia raised her eyebrows but nodded for him to continue.

“She kept fiddling with her ring and as she was doing this I saw that her finger didn't have a tan line for her ring, implying that she regularly takes it off. Not only that but she kept going quiet whenever Mrs. Johnson’s husband was mentioned. Plus, Miss Catly told us how she saw Mrs. Luise on the other side of town and Mrs. Luise almost lost it. Her face just seemed to lose color and she kept trying to direct the conversation elsewhere. This leaves me to believe that she’s cheating on her husband,” Harry then lowered his head and waited for what his aunt had to say. She would weather take him by the ear and throw him into his cupboard or she would stroke his hair.

He let out a breath of relief when he felt her hand gently touch his head. He relaxed into the touch.

Aunt Petunia even got him ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is supposed to be a little contradictory. From what I've noticed from myself and others is that the way we feel about other people is constantly changing from one direction to another. there a few rare people that you will always love and never even dislike but for most it's pretty common to be unsure about your feelings about a person.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So to start off I'd like to say that this work does not in any way excuse canon Petunia. This is an au and so the characters may be out of character. I have no idea on who's gonna be paired with who yet. The perspectives will change later on. And finally, this is not a redemption fic, Petunia is still an asshole and will get her just deserts like everyone else. Hope you enjoyed it and have a nice day.


End file.
